Most congested roads in the UK revealed, with traffic jams costing drivers £1,317 a year

Most congested roads in the UK revealed, with traffic jams costing drivers £1,317 a year

Josh Barrie

Published:11:07 amFebruary 12, 2019

The average road user in London loses up to £1,680 every year due to traffic jams, new analysis has shown.

‘Congestion costs Brits billions of pounds each year. Unaddressed, it will continue to have serious consequences for national and local economies, businesses and citizens in the years to come’

Trevor Reed, Inrix

Road congestion in the UK costs the economy nearly £8bn annually, according to transport data firm Inrix, which also looked at where drivers are most likely to be held up while travelling.

Elsewhere in the UK, Inrix calculated that motorists in Edinburgh are losing up to £1,219, while drivers in Manchester are losing up to £1,157, and those in Leicester as much as £1,145.

Liverpool, at £878 per driver, had the lowest cost of congestion among the cities studied in the report.

The UK’s motorways are often too busy (PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images)

Sitting in traffic

London and Edinburgh are said to be the UK’s slowest cities. In the capitals, the average speed for journeys on the road into central business districts came out at just 7mph during peak hours.

The A406 from Chiswick Roundabout to Hanger Lane (the North Circular), west London, topped the Inrix list of the worst traffic corridors, with the average driver wasting 61 hours per year in congestion in 2018.

But the A406 isn’t alone. There are a number of roads where hold ups are painfully frequent – and costly.